Beyonce may be buying a stake in the Houston Rockets

Rockets owner Les Alexander, a former bond trader, said last month he was selling the team amid a surge in franchise values across sports. The club’s popularity in China may push the sale price past the record $2 billion Steve Ballmer paid for the Los Angeles Clippers three years ago.

It’s common for celebrities to make small investments in sports teams. Beyonce’s husband, Jay-Z, for instance, was born in Brooklyn and once held a less than 1 percent stake in basketball’s Nets. He sold his share of the team after starting Roc Nation, which represents athletes.

There are plenty of other examples: Pop star Justin Timberlake, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, owns a piece of basketball’s Grizzlies; tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, as well as Jennifer Lopez, are investors in football’s Miami Dolphins; and actor Will Ferrell has a stake in Major League Soccer’s Los Angeles Football Club.

The Rockets declined to comment. Beyonce’s publicist, Yvette Noel-Schure, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The entertainer’s representatives at Sony Music Entertainment declined to comment. A spokeswoman for her husband, Jay-Z, also didn’t